This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah's success in luring California-based business into expanding their operations here isn't playing too well in the Golden State.
A consortium of business groups, operating under the Californians Against Higher Taxes banner, is out to convince their government leaders that the state's business climate needs to be improved.
And they are pointing to Utah's success to support their stand.
"Businesses are fleeing our state for Utah, and they are taking thousands of jobs with them," said Scott Macdonald, a spokesman for the California group that includes the California Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Business/California and the California Taxpayers Association.
The group notes that in recent months:
• San Jose-based Adobe systems announced it will build a $100 million campus in Orem and hire more than 1,000 new employees.
• Twitter, the San Francisco-based social networking company, said it intends to relocate its data center to Salt Lake City.
• The Redwood City-based Electronic Arts Inc., a video-game producer, opened a 20,000 square-foot plant in Utah with 100 employees.
• EBay announced plans for a $287 million building project in Draper to house its primary data center.
• Oracle reported it planned to resume construction on a large data center in Salt Lake City that is expected to create 100 jobs.
"This news is like rubbing Salt Lake City in our wounds," John Kabteck, executive director of the NFIB/California said in a statement calling upon legislators to adopt a budget that doesn't increase the tax burden on California businesses.
Kabteck said small businesses, unlike the big companies that are moving their operations to Utah, don't have the choice of relocating to a more business friendly state. "Their choices are more stark: lay off employees, cut back on costs until they finally are forced to go out of business."
Spencer Eccles, executive director of the Governor's Office of Economic Development, said the initiative by Californians Against Higher Taxes, represents further confirmation that Utah's business climate is among the best in the country.
"We're a fiscally-conservative state and we can offer stability," he said. "In a time of world turmoil we are an oasis for businesses."